


Keep this between us

by 5hines_writes



Category: SHINee
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Choi Minho - Freeform, F/M, High School, SHINee - Freeform, TW: sexual harassment, minho - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-04-18 09:38:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14210298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5hines_writes/pseuds/5hines_writes
Summary: I walked into Minho on my way home and a milkshake later we feel like we’ve known each other forever, but my parents had other plans for me. Managing their company and marrying for the advantage of the company is what they had in mind. But this is the 21st century and I won’t let it pass that easily. (formerly known as 'fight for us')





	1. The one where we meet

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments!

I was walking the twenty minutes to home when the water bottle I downed during the last hour of class was suddenly arriving rapidly in my bladder. I could take the bet and quickly make it home but I would rather be sure. So I knocked on someone's door, hoping I could use their restroom and they wouldn't think anything of it.   
  
A woman opened the door and she seemed to be getting ready to leave, but I still asked anyway.

"Can I use the restroom, please?" I asked, smiling friendly.

"Of course," the woman smiled at me, she looked strangely familiar but I ignored it. "I'm leaving but my son is still here. Just make sure to close the front door when you leave." 

"Thank you very much," I told her, after which she showed me where the restroom was and she left. I hurried myself in the small room and closed the door behind me.

I was just about to close the button on my pants when the door flew open. I had forgotten to lock the door.

In front of me was one of the hottest guys in school, and coincidentally about the only guy who had ever really caught my eye. His eyes were wide open in shock as he looked at the scene in front of him.  
  
"M-Minho," I stuttered, trying to act normal, not that it was really an option.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I heard a noise and I thought it was the cat drinking again. I swear I didn’t see anything,” Minho said, closing the door rapidly. I buttoned my jeans and stepped out.

“It’s okay,” I said, coming out of the restroom. I saw Minho against the wall, head in his hands.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. I pulled his hands down. He looked at me apologetically.

“It’s okay... I should have locked the door... you’re Minho, right? You’re one year ahead of me? Your last year?” I asked. Minho nodded. “I see you around a lot but I feel like we have talked before but I can’t actually remember?”

“That’s because you had a concussion,” he told me. I gave him a puzzled look. Then I remembered.

“Oh, yes I did! ... Hang on were you the one who carried me?” I asked, some memories flooding into my brain. A light blush appeared on his cheeks. “Yeah, that was me.”

“Oh, wow, you’re strong!” I exclaimed, cursing myself for being such a blabbermouth. He smiled slightly embarrassed.

“Can I make it up to you? And then we can never talk about it again...” he pleaded.

“Sure, how are you making it up to me?” I asked.

“I don’t know... there is this cute café nearby called Rose's café with the best milkshakes, we can go there if you want? My treat,” he said, throwing me a soft smile.

“Ha, that sounds like a date,” I said jokingly. A small blush appeared on Minho’s cheeks. I patted his arm. “Oh, I was only joking, don’t worry.”

We slipped into a booth at the café, Minho sitting across from me. He ordered a strawberry milkshake and I picked a chocolate one. I took a sip from it.

“Oh my god, these are so good! Can you believe I’ve never been here?” I said.

“You were really missing out,” Minho said. He happily drank from his milkshake.

We got talking and it was like we had known each other for years. I laughed about his annoying classmates and we complained about teachers together. He was making me laugh a lot and it made my heart feel light.

“So how are you liking this date,” Minho tried, smiling shyly. I smiled back at him.

“I quite like it,” I admitted. His smile widened and I wasn’t sure which one of us was blushing more.

Minho walked me home after we finished our milkshakes. I pulled a face and he asked me what was wrong.

"I have three missed calls from my mom," I said. Minho laughed.

"Someone's in trouble..." 

“That is so not funny!” I complained bumping him with my hip. He stumbled and looked at me offended. He got a smirk on his face and I picked up the pace for fear of him trying something back. He quickly caught up with me but gave up and walked nicely beside me.

“What are you going to tell her?” he asked me. I thought about it for a second.

“That I was on a date? I think it will actually make her happy,” I said. My mom bugged me about boyfriends all the time.

Minho walked me all the way up to the door and then gave me a modest kiss on the cheek before hopping down the two steps to the sidewalk. I waved once again before going inside.

“Is that boy why you’re late?” my mom asked me as soon as the door was closed. I wondered if she had been watching.

"Yes... Am I in trouble? I asked. My mom smiled at me.

"It's quite okay. I was young too once, you know. I understand. He looked like a nice and well-mannered boy," she commented, before walking back out of the hallway.

I walked into my room and wondered if it was too soon to text him. I checked my clock... I had not been inside for more than five minutes. It was definitely too early. I waited another 30 minutes and then texted him. Minho replied with quite some cute emoji’s that made me giggly. Minho had an adorable cute side and I loved it.

  
The next day I walked out of school and was saying goodbye to my best friend Macy when Minho stopped beside me.

“I can drive you home if you want,” he said. I told him I would like that with a smile. “Great, I’ll wait for you at my car.”

When I turned back to Macy she was giving me a judging look.

“What?” I asked. Macy shook her head.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, pointing in Minho’s direction. I looked at him and he smiled so I smiled back. Macy had to snap her fingers to get my attention back.

“Oh, I get what’s going on... you have finally admitted your crush to yourself and now he got you wrapped around his finger. You can’t trust him,” she told me. I shook my head.

“You have never talked to him. I bumped into him after school and we went to a café and we just clicked,” I explained. She didn’t seem completely convinced.

“If he steps one toe out of line, I am coming for him with an axe,” she threatened. I laughed at her and said goodbye. I walked over to Minho and he wrapped me in a hug.

“Okay, why is your friend glaring at me,” Minho asked, letting go of me.

“Oh that’s Macy... she said if you hurt me she’s coming for you with an axe,” I told him. He looked slightly alarmed. “Splendid.”

Minho picked me up every day after school after that. Sometimes we went to Rose's café, sometimes to the ice cream parlour or just at home. I was scared I was going to get sick from seeing him so often but in fact it was quite the opposite. Minho had started the habit of touching me _a lot_. Hugs, holding hands, small fluttery touches that when he wasn’t around I was starting to crave affection because I was getting used to it. Three weeks had passed and I was at his home, on the couch in his bedroom. It was Friday night and we had hours to ourselves. We were sitting crossed legged across from each other. Minho’s fingers were running over my arm and it made me giggle.

“I love your giggles,” Minho commented absentminded. Our eyes locked and Minho’s hand rested on my arm and his fingers wrapped around to pull me closer to him. I closed the remaining gap and kissed him. I felt him sigh into the kiss. His hand slipped from my arm to my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I leaned away and Minho had a small smile, his eyes overflowing with affection. I smiled back at him.

“I ... I think I’m starting to fall in love with you,” Minho said, blushing a deep pink.

“Good,” I said, “because I think I’m falling in love with you too.”

Minho pulled me closer again and kissed me softly. It felt as if a thousand butterflies had just taken flight inside my stomach. I ended sitting between Minho’s legs with my back against his chest while trying to finish all levels of logo quiz between neck kisses and hugs.


	2. The one where I get in trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had promised Minho we could sit together at lunch but that meant I had to drag Macy along. I was a little nervous because I would meet Minho’s friends but when we arrived at their table at lunch, it quickly became clear that I had no reason to be nervous. They were all nice guys. I sat down beside Minho and he introduced them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the updating schedule to once a week because it's easier to manage in combination with school and my internship. Maybe I'll change it should I have much more free time but otherwise it'll stay as it is. Don't forget to comment at the end of the chapter. Thank you for reading ^^

I had promised Minho we could sit together at lunch but that meant I had to drag Macy along. I was a little nervous because I would meet Minho’s friends but when we arrived at their table at lunch, it quickly became clear that I had no reason to be nervous. They were all nice guys. I sat down beside Minho and he introduced them.

"This is Jonghyun, my best friend since forever," he said, leaning into my ear and whispering, "he's like me, he looks tough but that isn't really the case." 

"Hey, I heard that! I can be tough!" Jonghyun objected.

"Yeah, and who said you looked tough?" I commented while looking at Minho, causing the others to laugh. 

"I am starting to like her, she is funny," Jonghyun said, Minho glared playfully at him before going on with introducing the rest of his friends. 

"This is Jinki, he's a year older but he's redoing his year since he fell ill last year. Then there's Taemin, he's your age. He is, uhm, well, he's my future step brother, we suspect," he explained. I frowned at him in confusion. 

"My mom and his dad have been on a few dates together. They made me babysit Taemin, like it was necessary. I guess they want us to bond or something."

"He has my back, my bullies disappeared," Taemin admitted silently. I smiled knowingly.

"Mike, right?" I asked and he nodded. "He's an asshole.”

"And that is-" he started but I interrupted him. 

"Kibum, I know," I said and greeted Kibum. He smiled back at me. 

"We took dance classes together last year. We were paired up and eventually got 2nd prize at the contest. We were the best one of our group," I explained. 

"So it's true then, Kibum can actually dance," Jonghyun noted, looking impressed. 

"I told you so," Kibum replied, looking smug. 

"Oh, he's one of the best dancers I know," I said, confirming Jonghyun's statement, sending a wink at Kibum. 

"And who is that?" Taemin asked. I had noticed him checking out Macy from the moment I sat down.

"That's Macy, she's my best friend," I introduced her and she greeted all of them.  
  
Minho started talking about a sports tactic with Jinki so I talked to Kibum about dance. Minho's arm hung lazily around my waist. His fingers were unconsciously tracing the line of exposed skin between my pants and my shirt. It was quite distracting so I laid my hand on top of his to stop his movements. Minho looked at me when he noticed. He smiled and kissed my cheek before continuing talking to Jinki. 

 

 

"I can drive you home again if you want," Minho said when we met after the last class.

"That would be nice,' I said. 

"Well well, if it isn't Minho and his girlfriend," a voice behind us said. We turned around. Dan, a pervy guy from Minho’s year, stood there grinning. 

“Hey, if Minho can’t keep you satisfied, I’d love to show you how it’s really done,” he said with a greasy grin, looking me up and down. I felt repulsed. Minho shot me a warning look, trying to keep me from reacting. But I couldn’t just not react.

"Oh please, not even a whore would want to get in your pants," I replied. Then I realised why Minho wanted me to shut up. The principal was walking our way and had just heard what I said.   
  
"Miss, you know very well that such words are not tolerated at school. You can follow me to my office, you too, Dan," he said before turning around, the three of us followed him to his office. 

"I'll wait here, okay?" Minho said. 

I nodded and followed the principal into his office while Minho and Dan waited outside.   
  
"Can you tell me what is going on? I wasn't expecting such words from you," he asked firmly. 

"Dan always makes suggestive comments," I said, looking as upset as I could, "and he has more than once touched me inappropriately or slapped my ass. And he does this to many girls. Now he was making a nasty comment and I had enough of it. I am sorry I've said those words but I felt like he deserved to hear them." 

The principal stayed silent for a second, contemplating what to do.

"Very well. I'll let it slip for once. Dan causes problems more often. You can go, please send Dan in," he said. I stood up and walked outside with a smile. 

"Dan, you can go in," I said. He stood up and walked into the office. Minho shot me a concerned look. 

"Are you alright?" he asked. 

"Sure, he understood and let it go. Dan isn't exactly the nicest guy," I said. 

"I am glad, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble," he said. He slipped his hand in mine and we walked to his car, our hands linked together.  
  
  
When we arrived at my home I invited Minho in since my parents weren’t home yet. He happily obliged.

"Do you want something to drink?" I asked, while taking a glass for myself. 

"No thanks," he answered. I got the bottle of lemonade and wanted to pour it when he wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“Minho... don’t.”

"Why not?" he asked, kissing the skin on my neck. A shiver went down my spine.

"Because my mom can come home any minute," I said. 

"Well... then I'll explain to her that you were attacked by a snake and I was sucking the venom out. In fact, I was saving your life and she will be very thankful," he said. I rolled my eyes. 

"Very inventive of you," I replied, finally succeeding in filling the glass, "but maybe not very convincing," I turned around in his arms and kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. His hands lowered down my back.

 

 

I leaned away, shaking my head disapprovingly with a smile on my face. I got out of his arms and put the bottle back in the fridge.   
  
He followed me to the living room and we both sat down on the couch. I leaned my head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around my waist. 

"Do you have plans for tomorrow? We have the afternoon free," he asked. I lifted my head from his shoulder to look at him.

"No, why?" I asked. 

"Well, I was thinking that you could come over. We should finish homework first of course, but after that we can do whatever we want," Minho said.

"Whatever we want?" I asked, trying to confirm my thoughts. 

"Let me rephrase that, whatever you want," he smiled, sending me a look that was hard to misunderstand.

"Sure, then," I asked, leaning my head back on his shoulder.

Too soon I heard my mom’s car pull into the driveway. We stood up and walked to the kitchen. For once Minho was keeping his hands off me and kept proper distance. 

"Hi, mom," I greeted her as she walked in the kitchen. She smiled at me and then looked questioningly at Minho, who stood silently behind me. 

"Mom, this is Minho. Minho, this is my mom," I said. Minho walked over to my mom and politely shook her hand. 

"I've heard her talk about you," my mom said. 

"Last week?" I asked, coming to stand beside Minho. 

"Oh no, sweetie, when you were younger," she replied and then told Minho, "She was in her first year and she couldn't shut up about you.  _Oh he is so handsome, he is so nice, I wonder if he has a girlfriend, should I ask his number?_ " I blushed in embarrassment, my memory suddenly coming back to me. My mom smiled innocently.

"Are you staying for dinner, Minho?" she asked. 

"Uhm, no, sorry, I should get home soon," Minho said after a look on his watch. My mom looked at me.

"I am going to go get your father, his car broke down this morning. I'll be back in half an hour," she said and with that she left again. 

"Very cute," Minho commented once my mom had closed the door. I blushed even more and hid my face in my hands. He took my wrists and pulled my hands down.

"Don't worry about it. My mom told me I talk in my sleep and, well, apparently, I might have said your name once or twice," Minho admitted, a light blush covering his cheeks. I smiled.

"You dreamed about me? So you have liked me for a while then?" I asked, grinning. 

"I am not answering that,” he said, the blush on his cheeks betraying him.  


	3. the one where I eavesdrop on my parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not what we wanted or expected... only parents could cause such a mess in a matter of seconds

"So I heard you have a boyfriend?" my dad asked when we sat down for dinner. I nodded in response.

"And what's his name?" he asked.

"Minho... Choi Minho," I replied. 

"His mother has a company we often correspond with," my mom said and I looked up in surprise. 

"Really?" I asked. She nodded and smiled. I could only wonder how many times they had been talking about me.   
  
After dinner, I headed up to my room. As I was passing the stairs when I got back from the bathroom, I heard something I really wished I didn't hear. My parents were softly talking to each other, but I could hear them well enough.   
  
"It turned out better than expected," I heard my mother say.

“Yes, I would hate to actually set her up with someone she didn’t like, but she chose him herself," my father replied.

“You do realise we still need to rush them so they can get married soon?” my mother said. I suddenly felt nauseous. I was disgusted they had been planning on this before. Yes, it was Minho but that didn't make it right. 

“We can wait a little longer, you know how I think about arranged marriages," my father replied after remaining silent for a few seconds.   
  
I was furious and upset. An arranged marriage? Really? I was aware there was a lot of social pressure from society to marry young and with a good match. It was good for our company too... but I never expected my parents to arrange a marriage for me. I stomped back to my room and stayed there for the rest of the evening.

  
  
"What's going on?" Minho asked when he caught on to my foul mood the following day. I let out a sigh.

"Give me a hug," I simply replied. Minho didn't say anything and wrapped his arms around me and held me close for a while, rubbing my back in circles to comfort me. "I'll explain it to you later. I don't want anyone to hear," I explained. Minho nodded in understanding and kissed my forehead. 

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Minho asked when I plopped down beside him on the couch in his room. I sighed.

"It's about you and me, you know how arranged marriages seem to become popular again in our part of society?" I asked. Minho's eyes widened. 

"Oh god no, they're setting up an arranged marriage for you?" he asked worriedly. I nodded. 

"For both of us, I overheard my parents talking yesterday evening," I told him. Minho frowned.

"Do you know to who?" 

"Minho, they want us to be married, together," I replied. 

"Oh," he said, thinking about it for a second, "that's not that bad?" 

"Yes it is, Minho!" I shouted,  _why didn't he get the problem?_

"You don't want to marry me? he asked, sounding slightly hurt. 

"No! That's not it," I told him, Minho smiled relieved. 

"So you do want to marry me?" he asked smiling. I groaned in annoyance.

"Minho! Please focus, don't you get it? What if it hadn't been you? But some random guy, maybe a total asshole, would you have liked that? Or maybe instead of me some blonde bimbo that had her brains flushed down the toilet? It doesn't matter who it is, doing something like that is not okay!" I shouted, standing up and pacing to let my frustration out. Minho stood up too and stopped me. He hugged me, trying to make me relax.

"Relax, honey. I was joking, I get it. We will figure something out," he tried to soothe me. I held him tightly, my head resting against his chest. He scooped me up in his arms and sat down on the couch again, with me on his lap. 

"So what do you want to do?" Minho asked when I calmed down a bit. I looked at him. 

"Well, I sort of have an idea... but it won't be easy for us," I started, Minho told me to go on.

"Well, we would say we don't want to get married. I am pretty sure they'll make it go through anyway, I just want to make them believe we don't want it, so they think twice on it, or at least feel guilty. But that would mean we had to act like we are not together, even on school because it'll reach them one way or another," I said. Minho nodded in understanding.

"Okay, but they know we are dating right now..." he commented. 

"Well, we'll have to fake a 'break up'. We'll make sure my parents or your mom hears us and then we'll see from there. Unless you don't want to marry me, in that case we might need a different plan,” I explained. I could see Minho think about it and then his eyes softened.

"I do, I do want to marry you. It's a good plan, when do we start?"

"Friday, maybe?" I replied, trying to ignore the flutter when he said he did want to marry me. We were much too young for that to happen of our own accord.

"Okay, Friday is good. But... then I need to take advantage of the time we really have together," Minho said. He pulled me to him and snuggled closer to me.

“I’m not sure, you’ll be stuck with me for the rest of your life... You might want to enjoy your free time while you still can.”

“That doesn’t sound bad at all,” Minho said, his finger lifting my chin so he could kiss me.

“You know I love the colour of your eyes, so soft yet you can give that piercing look that make my heart speed up,” he said.

“No, come on, you’re making me blush,” I said, covering my face in embarrassment. Minho took my hands off my face and landed a kiss on my nose.

“I love you just the way you are,” Minho said.

“Aw, I love you too, honey,” I said before we both realised what had happened. I shifted a bit in Minho’s arm. I took Minho by surprise when I started crying.

"That's the first time you said 'I love you'," I said, feeling more tears well up in my eyes. 

"Well, yes... are you really going to cry?" he asked. 

"Yes?" I replied, my voice getting shaky. Then I just started sobbing, I wasn't entirely sure what came over me. Minho held me close again his chest, slightly amazed by my reaction. He rubbed my back to soothe me. 

"Aww, sweetie... Are you going to cry every time I say it? Because then I am going to need to invest in tissues..." he said, making me chuckle. 


	4. The one where we have a fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After hearing what plans our parents had for us, I was very set on making the whole process hard for them before they could get properly started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments! More are welcome of course!

"I am a bit stressed about this," I said, pacing around my bedroom. Minho caught my arm and pulled me onto his lap.

“If our parents suddenly called it off because they realised it wasn't working, would we still go through with it? The idea of losing you over this whole thing freaks me out," I admitted to him.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, I am here to stay. And I honestly don't think they would even consider calling it off, or they wouldn't have planned it in the first place," he said.

"I know, but you can never be sure," I replied, he nodded in understanding.  

"No matter what happens I want us to be together," he said, kissing me. 

"How long do we have before they arrive?" Minho asked. It was ridiculous to spend the last few minutes we had together for now thinking about what if we lost each other. I checked my watch, "Ten minutes to go. I am nervous." 

Minho hugged me tight, knowing it would be a while before he could do that again. The rest of the remaining time was spent kissing and hugging, savouring those last few minutes together.

"We're home!" my parents called from downstairs. I let go of Minho and went downstairs to say hi to my parents. 

"Is Minho here?" my mother asked. I nodded shortly.

"Is he going to stay for dinner?" she asked. 

"No, he isn't," I told her, before returning to my bedroom, where Minho took me in his arms again. We waited a few minutes, hugging silently, before I started yelling.

"Minho, I told you before! I don't care how tall you are, I am refusing to stand on a chair to kiss you. And honestly, all your crazy demands are pissing me off! In fact, you're pissing me off all the time! I don't even know why we were dating in the first place, I never could stand you anyway with your idiotic friends," I said, before shutting up for just a second, which time Minho took to softly kiss my lips.

"No, Minho, you had your chance. I warned you before and you didn't listen, I want you out of my room, out of this house and I hope I won't ever see you again!" I continued.

"Fine, I am out of here!" Minho yelled. I kissed him shortly and apologised for all the things I had just said, though he knew I didn't mean it. Then Minho stormed out of my room and out of the house. I let out a sigh, knowing the hardest part was yet to come. 

 

  
  
Macy came up to me on Monday morning.

"I have to tell you something," she said, smiling broadly. I nodded, telling her to go on. 

"I got a boyfriend!" she nearly squealed, "Aaand, it's Taemin."

"Oh my god, that's great! I think you two fit well together," I congratulated her. Macy smiled happily. 

"Thank you! I thought maybe we could go on double dates, with you and Minho," she said. I realised I hadn't told her about our 'break up'. I felt bad about lying to her, but we had agreed that we couldn't take any risks. 

"I am sorry, Macy, but we can't. Uhm, Minho and I broke up," I told her. I promised myself that I would tell her once this was all over. 

"What?! No! You guys were perfect together. Did he do something?" she asked, probably already on planning to go scold him or something or kick him in the shins. 

"No no, nothing like that. It just... wasn't working, okay?" I explained to her. She frowned at me but didn't ask any further questions.   
  
My day suddenly felt empty without Minho. I seemed to have gotten used to him so fast. At least lunch managed to cheer me up. We still sat at the same table, supposedly 'for Macy', who was lost in Taemin's eyes for a fair time of lunch. I tried to avoid eye contact with Minho, it was just too hard. His eyes seemed to want to say so much, so it was better to avoid it and prevent my heart from jumping up.   
  
It didn't took our friends long to realise we weren't talking to each other and on my way to class, Kibum pulled me aside to ask what was going on. I explained to him what supposedly had happened. Kibum shook his head in disbelief. 

"I don't believe that at all, honestly, not at all. Look you don't have to tell me what happened, but there is something about both your explanation and I know something is up," he explained. 

"Why do you think that?" I asked, no one else seemed to have doubted our story. Kibum let out a sigh. 

"First of all, Minho is absolutely lost for you, even before... he's been pining for so long why would he let you go? You're not the one to just date around either... and because I asked Minho as well and he told me the exact same thing," Kibum told me, I frowned in confusion, waiting for him to make a point. "No two people who have broken up tell the same story, they're always trying to make themselves look better," he paused for a bit, seemingly lost in thought. Then realisation washed over his face, "you guys haven't broken up at all, right?" 

I bit my lip and nodded. 

"But why? Why are you hiding?" he asked. I looked down the corridor to see if anyone was there, but we seemed to be alone. If I could trust anyone to keep our secret, it was Kibum.

"Well, our parents are setting up an arranged marriage. We are lucky they paired us together but they were clearly planning this before we got together. I want to show them that it's really not okay to do such thing," I said. Kibum smiled. 

"Oh no! That's really shitty! Well, I got your back, okay," Kibum said, hugging me, "if you guys need anything, just tell me. I don't know like a cover up, or a wedding planner." He shot me a wink. 

"Kibum, that's not funny..."

"Then why are you smiling?" he asked, I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you for helping out," I said.

"I am glad I can do it," he said.

"... and you couldn't be my cover-up, I know you totally have the hots for—" Kibum told me to shut up.

"Don't say it, I'm ignoring it," he told me. I shook my head at him as I smiled. 

"I saw you looking during lunch..." I teased him, but after a stern look from Kibum I finally shut up.

  
  
"Did you see Minho today?" my mom asked when I arrived home. 

"Yeah I did..." 

"So...did you two talk ... work it out?" she asked, I rolled my eyes. 

"No mom, we didn't. Honestly I don't see why it bothers you so much. There are more fish in the sea, isn't that what you have always told me?" I asked, trying hard to contain my anger. 

"I just thought it was about time you settled down," she replied. I frowned at her. 

"Time? I am only 18! I am still studying, I have got plenty of time," I argued, but my mom shook her head.

"It is going to be your last year. You won’t keep studying, you don't need it anyway when you start working at the company," she said. I was nearly fuming, not at all amused by this new information. I simply walked away and shut myself in my bedroom, not feeling like talking to my mother any longer.   
  
Like the days before this one, I listened to hear them say anything more about the arrangement. When I noticed they were talking about me, I opened the door softly to hear them better. I could hear they were on the phone with who I assumed was Minho's mother. We were going to have dinner of Friday, all together and then they would tell us the news. Once I heard I quickly texted Minho, but he had heard it as well. I also told him about Kibum finding out. At first he seemed slightly alarmed, but once I reassured Kibum had our backs, he relaxed. After all, he trusted Kibum. 

The next morning I woke up with 3 missed calls from Kibum. I listened to the voicemail.

"I have a problem, please come as quick as you can, just come over _now_ , it's urgent," he begged. I quickly hopped out of bed, put my clothes on snatched my bag from my desk. Downstairs I left a short note for my parents telling them I had already left. Then I ran the few streets to Kibum's house, worrying what could be wrong the whole time. 


	5. The one with the ruined dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Kibum is on our side, at least someone can cover for us. Only we get help from someone else too, which we absolutely didn't expect.

  
  
I arrived at Kibum's house and knocked on the door. Kibum quickly came and opened the door. He let me in and I noticed that he didn't seem in any rush or danger. 

"Is everything okay? What's going on?" I asked. I took a second look at Kibum, he seemed perfectly fine. 

"Just a minute," he said. He told me to sit down on the couch so I waited patiently. There was another knock on the door. Kibum got up and opened the door. To my surprise, Minho walked in. I stood up and walked up to him. We hugged each other tightly. Kibum waited until we were done hugging and sat us down on the couch. 

"Now, I will shower for half an hour, maybe more. There are pancakes ready in the kitchen, eat as many as you want, and thank me later," he said when I opened my mouth. He stood up and went upstairs. Once he was out of sight I kissed Minho fiercely and he eagerly kissed me back. He pulled my body close and it was like my body was on fire, like I actually had physically missed him. After a while we broke apart, but he didn't release the grip on my body. 

"It's been only 4 days, ... this is hell," he said. I could only nod.

"If it wasn't for you, I had given up the plan entirely and just listened to my parents so I could spend time with you," Minho said. I smiled at him.

"I know, it's hard on me too, but I need to prove a point, just for a little bit. Even if they can see later how perfectly happy I am," I said. Minho kissed the top of my head.  
  
We walked to the kitchen, after all we both still needed to eat breakfast and the smell of pancakes had been lingering around us for a few minutes now, making us hungry. We started to eat in silence, but we held each other close, since the time was limited. After the pancakes were gone, we spend the rest of the time making out until Kibum returned from his shower.  
  
We all hopped in Kibum's car to go to school. 

"Kibum, I cannot thank you enough," Minho told him. Kibum smiled.

"Anything for seeing my favourite couple happy, and besides, Minho can't stop moaning one minute about how much he misses you," Kibum told me. I looked at Minho to catch him blushing. I found it endearing.   
  
The next few days passed without much fuzz. We avoided each other as much as we could, except during lunch because of our friends. Once or twice when there was no one to be seen, we sneaked away to a deserted corridor for a lingering kiss. Each time I left, I wished I wouldn't have kissed him, because it only left me wanting more. 

"Get cleaned up and dressed properly, there will be guests," my mom said when I can home on Friday.

Usually that meant guests would be over for dinner. My parents would talk business, trying to get a deal done or celebrate a deal and I was always bored out of my mind. Today that meant Minho and his mother were coming over, after all, it counted as a business deal. I got upstairs, showered and pulled a dress on, mentally preparing myself for the evening. I went back downstairs and read a book while waiting for the guests to arrive. Sometimes my dad would look at me, making me feel like he actually felt bad about arranging the marriage. I knew for sure my mom wouldn't, she felt like it was the right thing to do. I gave my dad a small smile, knowing that this wasn't his doing. 

When the doorbell rang, my mom hurried to the door and opened the door, greeting the Choi's heartily and letting them in. I was a tad bit surprised to see Taemin's dad had joined as well. I suppose they had been right about their parents' relationship.   
  
'Minho," I greeted him politely, shaking his hand and trying to ignore how handsome he looked in a suit. He gave a nod back. I shook his parents' hands as well before we all sat down for dinner. I made small talk with Minho, making sure to ask him why Taemin hadn't come along with his father when there was a silent moment. For the other part I replied politely but short, often leaving an awkward silence before one of the adults attempted to pick up the conversation again. My parents gave me a pleading look but I couldn't be bothered.

After everyone had finished dinner, a silence fell and we all knew what was coming.

"As you know our companies are closely related and we've been working together for quite a while," my mom started, "we'd like to merge the companies and co-operate, but up until now that would not be profitable enough. We know you like each other, so we would like you to set your differences aside and get back together. We would like an Easter wedding," my mom said. My sip of water was well-timed and I spit it out in 'surprise' the moment she said wedding.

"Easter wedding? Are you crazy? Aside from totally ignoring my own opinions, my feelings and my privacy, don't you even care about my education? Or Minho's for that matter?" I yelled standing up. 

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Minho yelled before a silence fell.

"Of course we care about your education. You get married, take a one-week honeymoon and then return to both finish your final year. We can only merge companies if you are both the legal owners of the company," Minho's mom explained. 

"Really? From all she said, you only heard 'education' and not 'privacy' and 'feelings'?" Minho asked his mother while standing up. He threw his napkin on the table.

"I need air," he said, walking out of the room. 

"Will you get him?" my mom asked. I grumbled and stomped out of the house as well, following Minho. Once I was outside I closed the door behind me and Minho looked around at me. I let out a deep sigh.

"Are you okay?" Minho asked, hugging me close. 

"I just had so much anger piled up, I felt like I couldn't breathe," I said.

"I know," he said. We let go of each other but held hands. The door opened and my dad appeared. We let go of each other hands but it was too late. I could see realization wash over his face.

"You didn't break up? You are just trying to piss everyone off?" he asked. I nodded in reply. A smile broke across his face.

"I understand completely. My parents made those choices for me too. I've told your mother so often I don't think it's okay to do this to you, but she has always had this big sense of duty. She... doesn't seem to understand. Don't worry, I won't tell on you. If you need help, just let me know... I think it's better if we go in now," my dad said. I hugged him in thanks and walked back inside, Minho and my dad following behind. 

"We've agreed to give you both time to cool off and think about it. We'll talk about the practical stuff tomorrow," my mom said once we were seated again.

"Cool off? By tomorrow?" I asked.

"We hope you have collected yourself enough by then," she told me firmly. I nodded and gave no further reply. The Choi family stood up to leave and we all said good night politely. I didn't fail to catch the small wink my father send to Minho. 

"Come in," I said when I heard my father knock on my bedroom door. I sat up on the bed. My dad walked in and sat beside me.

"That was a rough night," he commented. I nodded.

"I just couldn't let it happen like this. It's just not right," I said. 

"I know. I can't do much now. Just go to sleep and we'll see again tomorrow. To help you out, I told your mother that you might like Minho again if she forced you to go on dates every Saturday, so you two can have some time together. This is not something you should handle alone. Good night, pumpkin," he wished me good night and left.  
  
I was still angry and the whole thing had me more worked up than I expected, but my dad was on my side and I'd get to spend time with Minho, so for now it was alright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this update is slightly late! I started my full-time internship so I didn't have much time and won't have much time for the following weeks, so please bear with me, I'm trying my best to update on time! Comments keep me motivated so if you have a little time, you can always leave a comment below ;)


	6. The one with the mandatory date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that our parents have established that we will marry, they are making us go on dates to get us back to liking each other. For once, we were not objecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update! This chapter is a little longer so I hope you like it! Comments are great to help me edit the rest of the story! Thank you for reading :)

 

"Come in, lovely to see you!" Mrs. Choi greeted us as she let us into their home. As if they hadn't seen us yesterday. I greeted Mrs Choi and Mr Lee as was expected of me, I greeted Minho as coldly as I could but lingered. When I saw Taemin joined us today, I greeted him heartily with a hug. When we were hugging, he told me 'I know' before letting go.

"How's Macy?" I asked. He told me she was doing well, a broad smile appearing on his face when I mentioned her. I smiled back before we were asked to join them in the dining room. There were drinks and refreshments ready at the table. I took a bowl of crisps for myself, looking up innocently when my mom gave me a judging look.

  
"I am glad we're all back here, calmed down and all. So, if there are no other objections I’d like to set a date today and agree on some smaller arrangements. I'll also have the lawyer prepare the documents for our companies once it's arranged," Mrs Choi said.

"If there no way I can convince you not to do this and I otherwise don't care, you don't really need me here, right?" Minho asked his mother.

"Minho, please..." his mother begged. He gave her a hard look.

"Am I wrong, mother?"

"You are staying and I don't want to hear any more on the matter," his mother told him firmly.

"Right, because it's absolutely not my wedding, my marriage and my life you're planning out," he said. The two looked at each other in silence, the anger clear in their eyes. It was completely silent.

"I am not even sure why I am here," Taemin muttered. If it was his attempt to break the tension, it was a very poor one.

"Well, we can start with that at once," his father told him, "You're at the same school as them so I want you to keep an eye on them. I want them to spend as much time together as possible. You will report to us if they're ignoring each other."

"Absolutely not."

"Excuse me?"

"I will not spy on them, they're my friends and I would do nothing to upset them," Taemin told his father. It was the first time I heard Taemin speak up like that and I was pleasantly surprised.

"If it's not you then we'll find someone else to do it for us," his father said. Taemin's eyes widened and he had to admit defeat. Better to have him report than someone else who could get suspicious. Taemin’s father seemed to have taken on the role of male head of the family and behaved as Minho’s father, much to Minho’s dismay.

"Further on that matter, you will have weekly dates with each other, on either Saturday or Sunday. We want you to be happily married, so we're doing this effort for you," my mom said.

"You are doing the effort? That's news to me," I said.

"You're only trying to fix this so there's less guilt on your part, instead of doing the right thing. Fine by me but don't expect it to work. You'll have to learn to live with your guilt, I am not going to make it easier for any of you," Minho said.

"Are you quite done now?" Mr Lee asked.

"If you want me to," Minho resolutely answered with a glare. They both nodded in silence. We spent the rest of the evening in silence while our parents discussed our wedding. At least I got a say in which dress I was going to wear.

 

The fact that I got to choose my dress didn't make me happy for very long. It was Sunday and we were going wedding dress shopping. They had made an appointment for it before they even told me I was going to get married. The wedding would take place quickly so I imagined they were going to pay heavily to have the dress ready on time. I told them I wanted full say on the dress or I'd ruin the wedding for them and somehow that worked.  
I was pulled in and out of dresses for what seemed like hours and hours with my mother and saleswomen commenting on which dresses would best hide my _flaws_ , but I did end up finding a lovely dress, it was elegant and the skirt was long and flowy. We decided on that one and they took all my measurements in detail. My mother was delighted. 

 

"What do you mean, you went wedding dress shopping without me?" Macy said to me during lunch. Minho was sitting beside me and smiled at her comment.

"Well, I wasn't going by choice. I did chose my dress but not the time, Mace, I'm sorry."

"I'm going to kill your mother," she said, clenching her fork tight in her fist.

"Be my guest," I laughed, "Oh, Macy, I got a thing I need your help for, can you meet me after school?"

"Sure, I'll bring a knife for your mother," she smiled.

"That'd be great, thanks," I said to her. 

 

Macy came over to my house and I let her in.

"Come up to my room, it's safer," I said. She gave me a puzzled look but followed me upstairs.

"Has Taemin said anything to you?" I asked. Now that both Kibum and Taemin were in on our secret, we might as well tell Macy too.

"No... but he did mention he wanted to say something but he couldn't because he promised Minho," she explained. I nodded. "Oh, god, you're not pregnant, are you?"

"No..." I told her, "Minho and I never broke up. I'm sorry we had to lie because our parents have ears everywhere and we don't trust it. But Kibum figured it out on his own and Taemin has to spy on us to make sure we're trying to  _reconnect_  so it's only fair we include you as well."

"Oh my god, why would you hide that from me? You're the absolute worst. I'm really glad you're still together but don't do this to me ever again." Macy said.

"I know, I'm really sorry. We can’t risk anyone knowing. Taemin  _had_  to know. Kibum figured it out on his own so it wouldn’t be fair to not include you.” I said.

“Well, you better have something good to make it up to me.”

“I do... Mace, you’re my best friend and I want to ask you if you would want to be my maid of honour?”

For a second I could see the internal conflict of still being a tiny bit mad but quickly her eyes lit up.

“Of course! I would love to,” she said. I sighed happily and we hugged.

“So you never broke up for a second?”

“Not even for a second.”

“You’re very much in love and about to get married?” 

I smiled. “Yes.”

“That’s not bad at all. So you’re just getting back at your parents?” 

“Very much so. Well my dad figured it out but he’s on our side.” 

“Good. Well, if I can help you out with anything, let me know.”

“I will, thanks, Mace, you’re the best.”

“I know.”

 

The next Saturday Minho and I were going on our mandatory date. My mom made me pull on a dress and heels. Minho ringed the doorbell right on time and my mother opened the door.

“I’m here to pick up your daughter. I’m sorry if she returns late, but you know how those fancy restaurants are,” Minho said. I heard my mother laugh.

“No problem at all, Minho, I trust you to bring her back safely, no matter the hour.” My mother would never let me out late like that but now of course anything was well, as long as it was with Minho. 

I made my way downstairs and said goodbye to my mother. Minho greeted me with a modest kiss on the cheek. He offered me an arm to escort me down the stairs of the house and with those heels on, I was quite glad he did so. 

I hated that my mom was still watching at the door because that meant I couldn’t kiss him. Reluctantly I put on my belt as Minho started driving.

“So, what’s on the planning tonight?” I asked.

“I need to woo you, take you to an expensive restaurant, make amends for whatever I did wrong and confess my ever-dying love for you. My  _new_  father made me a checklist,” Minho told me, pointing at the paper. I picked it up and read it.

“Oh you were not kidding at all,” I said. I read on and laughed.

“What?” Minho asked me.

“Modest skinship?”

“Ah yes, I have touch you as much as possible without coming across as a pervert.”

“That is disturbing,” I said, putting the paper back down.

“I told him that but he said if you’re handsome and rich it doesn’t count.”

“Ew. That sounds like something Trump would say.”

“Tell me about it.”

 

We ate in a way too expensive restaurant, one of those fancy ones where the servings are so small you leave while still hungry. It made me feel like a true adult in the weirdest way possible. Although the restaurant was beautifully designed and decorated, it was kind of a dull place. Everyone was talking silently about business and money, as was expected from this place but no one seemed to truly enjoy themselves. 

“Hey, can we count this as our engagement dinner?” I asked. I saw Minho think about it.

“I guess we can. Now I think about it, it feels weird...” he said.

“Will it be less weird if we ordered special dessert to celebrate?” I asked smiling.

“Yes, it will.”

When we ordered dessert, I told the waiter to make it special since we recently got engaged. He looked at both of us, a little puzzled and said, “But you’re both so young, why not wait?”

“Oh, it’s not our choice,” Minho said. 

The waiter nodded understandingly. “You do seem to get along well.” 

“We do. We were dating when they told us but it is not sensible to get married at this age,” I said.

“You’re lucky then. I’ll tell the chef to make it special. I wish luck to both of you.”  
  
We thanked the waiter. Our dessert was a variety of small cakes and fruits and had congratulations written in chocolate.

“It’s the good cake, not everyone gets it,” our waiter told us. We thanked him again and tipped him generously when we left, our parents were paying after all. 

We went back to the car and Minho told me he wasn’t dropping me home yet so we could have more time to ourselves. 

In the car I took out a spare pair of sneakers and Minho looked at me puzzled.

“What are you doing, love?” he asked. I stopped changing my shoes and smiled stupidly at him.

“Changing into sneakers,” I said.

“Why are you staring at me like that with your love eyes,” he asked me.

“You just called me _love_ ” I said as Minho stopped at a red light.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he said, smiling warily.

“Yes, it is,” I said.

“Well, I love you, love, that’s why. Just put your shoes on, we’re almost there.”

“Wait, why are we at Kibum’s house?” I asked when Minho parked the car. Minho and I both got out of the car.

“Kibum is on a weekend trip to the sea...” he explained, giving me a knowing look.

“Oh my god, bless Kibum,” I said, entering his home.

“He did make me promise something...”

“What?” I asked. Minho made an awkward face. 

“He made me promise he could be godfather of our first child...”

“Unbelievable, did you agree to that?” I asked. Minho signed at the house we were in as a reply.

“You should be glad our first child isn’t going to be named Kim Kibum the almighty,” he replied.

“Well, thank you then,” I said. 

We snuggled on the couch and Minho was giving me butterfly kisses everywhere.

“Taemin is totally making me suffer,” Minho complained.

“Why?”

“Well, he’s bringing Macy around the house all the time, he’s flaunting it,” he said.

“But they’re so cute, leave them be,” I said.

“I just hope his dad will let him marry as he pleases. I don't think Macy would be seen as a good choice... but I hope me doing his bidding will give me some leverage for Taemin.”

“You’re a good big brother,” I told him. He smiled at me. “I try to be.”

A silence fell for a second.

“You know...” I started, “I love you but the fact that I can’t choose what I do in my life is suffocating me.”

“I know. Let’s hope once we are married and start working they will allow us more freedom,” Minho said, caressing my side with his thumb.  
 

Too soon it was time to go home.

“We can do it, just a few more weeks,” I said. Minho nodded.

“Let’s do it.”

“I love you, my love,” I said. He grinned widely as he heard me call him  _love_ , he seemed to get it now.

“I love you too,” he said, his eyes shining as they locked with mine. 

 

Minho drove me back home. Since it was already late my parents were sleeping, which I was happy about because that meant I wasn’t about to get prying questions right away. By morning I would have come up with some proper answers.


	7. the one where it's too much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stress of preparing for a wedding at this age is a lot to handle. True that a lot of things are out of my hands but nevertheless it involves a lot of responsibility.

It was the next Friday and even though the wedding was approaching rapidly, I felt like giving up.  _Come over, right now,_ I texted Minho. We needed to talk. Despite my short message, Minho arrived soon without much of a question.

“What’s going on, are you alone?” he asked. I nodded and let him in. I dragged him up the stairs to my room.

“I can’t do this anymore, Minho, I want to give up,” I said on the edge of tears.

“Honey, please relax,” Minho told me. He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. “What brought this on?”

“I’ve just had enough. They’re pestering me about wedding details, there’s a prenup to sign along with other stuff I don’t even know about. I miss you and I feel alone. Macy tries but she doesn’t really understand.”

“It’s only four weeks left. Then we have our honeymoon. That’s a whole week just for us two. After that we’re moving in together already,” he told me, but that just made me dizzy.

“I just want out, Minho. I can’t escape my parents and I wish I could marry you at my own pace, when I wanted. I wish I could just... run away,” I said, I was just so desperate for some breathing air, for making my own choices for once.

“If you really want to run I’d follow you but... think about our friends, Taemin, Macy... I’ve known Jonghyun since we were toddlers. Jinki... Kibum would absolutely come after us.”

That last one actually made me laugh.

“I know. It’s not a solution but I wish it was.”

“Me too,” Minho said, “are you okay? Anything else you want to say?” he asked as we sat ourselves down on my bed.

“No... oh I did go for my wedding dress fitting yesterday. They had to make it smaller because I lost weight due to stress. I’m having my last fitting in two weeks” Minho frowned at me.

“That’s not good. When we’re married I’ll always cook for you. Make sure you’re eating well.” I smiled at him.

“Wow, you’re going to cook?” 

Minho nodded at me and looked a bit sad before saying, “My father taught me how to cook. We started when I was four and we did it until I was 13 and he started to get too sick to cook. Since then I’ve always cooked for myself. My mother is usually out for business dinners so I would prepare it myself.” 

“You’ve never told me about your dad before,” I said, squeezing Minho’s hand in comfort.

“I never talk about him much. My mother only brings him up when convenient, most people don’t really remember him, not the way I do anyway. He was a business man but he was a family man too. He was so kind-hearted, he’d always make time for me if needed. He would have liked you too,” he smiled teary-eyed. I felt for him so I hugged him close.

“It would have been lovely to meet your father,” I said. Minho gave me a muffled reply that I didn’t really understand.

“What?” I asked. Minho moved to speak properly.

“He would have never allowed this.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. Then let’s make him proud.” Minho sighed and slumped against me. “He raised a very good man,” I added.

“I promised him I would do my best. Take care of my loved ones first. Do what I love...Now I’m doing none of it and it’s my mother’s fault,” Minho sat up with tears in his eyes. I dried his tears for him.

“I texted you and you were here within minutes, you’re always there for your friends and you immediately accepted Taemin as your brother. I think you’re taking care of your loved ones quite well. The other parts are not your doing and you are doing the best you can, he knows that.”

“Doesn’t make it suck less,” Minho said. I rubbed his arm.

“I know.”

“I’m picking up my suit for the wedding next week,” Minho said after a short while to get us back to a happier topic.

“That’s good, I bet you’ll look really handsome in it,” I said. He smiled.

“Not as pretty as you will in your dress,” he said, kissing my cheek. I held him close and kissed him. 

Somewhere between kissing and fiddling around it took me just a little too long to realise my parents were home. They had already parked the car and opened the front door when I noticed. Minho and I broke apart and shared a look of horror. 

“Can I go through your window?” he asked silently, first thought to escape.

“If you want to break your legs, then yes,” I replied. I heard someone come up the stairs. I looked around for a hiding place. Under the bed he could be seen, my closet was way too small to fit Minho in. Someone knocked on the door. I dragged Minho with me and pulled him in the corner beside the hinges and opened the door, hoping that my mother would not enter my room. 

“The lady at the shop asked if you could come by tomorrow for your wedding lingerie.” I swear I could almost hear Minho breathe in sharply. “and then you can bring it for the fitting again. If you can’t make it tomorrow call back before the shop closes. We are eating in five to ten minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll come down soon.” I made sure my mom was walking away before I closed the door and let out a deep sigh. 

“That was close.”

Minho moved away from the corner. “Did I hear something about wedding lingerie?”

“Oh, shut up,” I told him.

“Is it something I’ll like?” he asked smiling, clearly just trying to bug me. I gave him a mildly annoyed look.

“Yes,” I admitted smiling. He grinned happily.

“I’m just happy I could convince my mother she didn’t have to go along for that one and I went with Mace. Which was also mildly weird, but at least better. Now, we need to get you out of here... somehow.” 

“How do you propose to do that?” he asked.

“You have to sneak out when we are eating... the problem is they can see you pass by in the doorway... I’ll have to create some kind of diversion.”

"Like what?" he asked. I shook my head.

“I don’t know yet... I’ll think of something... just make sure you’re ready to run.”  
 

Minho was waiting at the food of the stairs for me to say something.

“Mom, I’m pregnant.”  
Minho realised that was his moment to go, walked past the eating room while glancing quickly before slipping out unnoticed, he could just hear my mother say ‘I’m sorry, what?’  
 

“I’m not, I just wanted to see your reaction,” I added as soon as I saw Minho slip by. My parents didn’t notice and I immediately relaxed.

“It would be such a scandal if you were pregnant at your wedding,” she said. “You better still be a virgin. Fooling around with other boys would be very shameful towards your fiancée, whether you like him or not.”  
  


 _“_ Of course I’m still a virgin, mom.” No need to tell her what Minho and I had gotten up to in the past.

When I returned from dinner I noticed I had a text from Minho:  _Next time you say things like that, please give me a heads up._ I laughed at his text.  _I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of anything else! Now I had to reassure my mom I was still a virgin._  I was sure Minho was laughing at that one. I was a bit more relaxed now and had a new-found courage to go on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I changed the chapter count! It's because I'm busy wrapping up the last chapter and I've divided up some longer chapters to make them easier to read. It will probably go to 13 chapters but also not more than that. Thank you for reading!


	8. The one with family planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prenups ... because why not add to the wedding stress... It proves Minho and I don't know everything about each other yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah I'm sorry this is a little late. Between the 10th anniversary and going to Disneyland I totally forgot to upload! Good news is that I have more or less finished the last chapter and I'm pretty happy with it ^^

**TW: death mention**

It was Saturday evening. Our parents weren’t even pretending to have a cosy dinner to talk things over. No, this was clearly business, Taemin wasn’t even invited. I could enjoy wedding dress shopping and talking about decorations and vows, but not prenups and whatever else they were planning to talk about. I knew it was important to have a prenup because we both had a lot of money coming from our parents and in the companies and it was important for bankruptcy but it had so many small letters I wasn’t even sure what I was signing. I read through it as much as I could but it was not like I could change anything about it. Once I was sure there wasn’t anything ridiculous in it, I signed it. It felt odd because it made everything so much more official. I noticed Minho also read through it before signing it as well.

We moved to the couch to talk. Minho sat on the couch beside me, with a proper distance between us. Our parents were talking about future expectations for us, which positions we would take up within the respective companies. I didn’t particularly like it, but I had plenty summer jobs at our company and overall experience so I was confident I could take on the job. I lost my attention for what couldn’t have been more than a few seconds but somehow they had gotten onto the subject of children. If I thought I could choose if, when and how many children I would have, I was wrong. Of course they couldn’t really force me into having children but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to try.

  
“I would say the first child in about two years and then the second child three years after that?” I could see Minho shift awkwardly on the couch.

“Excuse me?” I asked. My mother looked at me as though she had expected me not to speak up. She raised her eyebrows in question.

“You can make me run your company so you can go golfing and buy a yacht and you can sleep soundly on both ears, but I think I, or Minho for that matter, should be able to choose children for ourselves,” I said.

“Yes, dear. But you should assure you have someone who can follow you in the company after you retire,” she said. I was fuming. Minho shot me a look, knowing how angry that made me. Yet I surprised him with a calm response that even surprised myself.

“I am very aware you only had me to succeed you in your company. If I have children, they will do what they want and pursue their own dreams.” I thought of a lot of retorts I could throw at their heads, but I stopped there.

“I can’t make you, but you must agree that having two children is ideal,” my mother said.

“What if we want five?” Minho asked. I saw his mother give him a warning look. Our fathers seemed to stay out of the whole conversation. This time Minho’s mother responded.

“More than two children is just a bad investment, you should know that.”

“Was I just back-up for my brother?” I asked, glad my father had left the room a minute earlier, because I didn’t want him to hear me. It was a low blow and I knew it. My mother stared at me harshly and for the first time I could detect a glimpse of sadness. Taemin’s father cleared his throat and jumped on another topic, sensing the tense mood.

_____

Somehow we found a quiet moment in the garden together while our parents finished up some documents.

“Now, really, how many children do you want?” I asked Minho as we both sat down on the bench. I saw him think about it as he looked up at the starry sky.

“I’d like more than just two but after all we’re not even twenty, we shouldn’t even be thinking about this.”

“Yet, here we are...” I said. He nodded.

“Well, these past few weeks I feel like I have aged five years,” he said. I could quite agree with that. We sat in silence for a bit.

“You had a brother?” Minho asked carefully. I nodded silently. I hadn’t told him that yet. I never really talked about it. Even Macy knew little more than the fact that I had a brother.

“He was supposed to lead the company and I had to attend all the social events when we grew up. We were the best of friends. He was seven when he died. I was five... My mother picked him up from karate class... The car got off the road and my brother suffered serious injuries. My mom broke both her arms but otherwise was fine. They kept my brother on life support but he would never wake up.” I paused and sniffed, trying to keep my tears in. Minho took my hand and squeezed it.  
“No matter how much money they threw the doctor’s way, they couldn’t save him. So after a week or two we had to let him go. I never knew exactly what happened... my mom tended to make business calls in the car. I don’t know if she was distracted... I never dared to ask...”  
Minho checked if he could see any of our parents and then engulfed me in a hug as I dried my tears.

“I’m sorry,” Minho said. I collected myself and sat back up. I entwined fingers with Minho.

“Four more weeks,” I said, Minho nodded.

“Almost there.”

...

The following week Macy had planned my bachelorette party. Since some my friends were still underage, we did nothing like the usual strippers or anything in that area. They also didn’t know I was still dating Minho so I had to watch my tongue the whole time. We went to the arcade, which made me feel strangely nostalgic. I was glad to have some laughs and relax. After the arcade, we went to movies and had dinner. We ended the night with a sleepover. I had no clue what Minho did but Kibum organised it so I was sure they were having fun.

 


	9. The one with the blow to the face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As if the stress for the wedding wasn't already enough, Minho puts some extra strain on our relationship.

Two weeks until the wedding. Everyone was running around stressed. I was stressed, Minho was stressed, our parents were stressed. To make matters worse my mom scheduled all kinds of appointments, face cleansing, hair removals, body scrubs, hair masks... because god forbid I would look anything but my best. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy a nice massage but the fact that I had so many of them that I didn’t schedule, it was putting me on edge. It was right before the Easter holidays so I also had a lot of deadlines for school. By now most people knew we were getting married. I felt stared at and even some teachers threw questioning glances our way.

About halfway through the week during my last class of the day I was asked to go to the nurse’s office. I was puzzled but nevertheless went. A counsellor was in the room together with the nurse, Minho, and Dan. I took in the whole situation. Minho was getting his hand iced. Dan was lying down and was having his face iced. I quickly realised what had happened but I wasn’t sure how I was involved in all this. The counsellor asked if she could speak with me outside. I looked at Minho and he gave me a look, I couldn’t quite read his expression. I followed the counsellor outside.

“From what I know Dan was making comments about you and Minho has asked him to stop calmly but Dan went on and on and Minho punched him without much warning,” she told me. I was to say the least surprised. As far as I knew Minho wasn’t the violent type. “I am a little confused about your relationship with him. I’ve heard you broke up but now he is your fiancé?”  
I nodded while I collected my thoughts.

“You have confidentiality, right? You don’t have to report to my parents?” I asked. She looked a bit worried but nodded. I explained our situation. “Our wedding is in a little over a week so we are both a little on edge I suppose.”

“I see... I was surprised about what Minho did, he hadn’t caused any problems before. I can’t help you with your situation at home, but if you or Minho need someone to talk to, you know where to find me,” she said sincerely. “I’ll let Minho off with a warning and won’t report it to his parents.” I thanked her and re-entered the nurse’s office. I walked to Minho, took the ice pack from him and held it against his hand for him. I didn’t say much in fear of Dan overhearing us. The nurse eyed us two and gave us a knowing look.

“She knows,” Minho whispered. I nodded in understanding.

“He needs to go to the hospital to get his hand x-rayed, can you go with him?” I nodded. “And keep that hand iced or it’s going to bruise. I called ahead so let’s hope you don’t have to wait too long.”

“What about my face?” Dan asked, whining on the bed. The nurse gave him a look.  
“You’re fine, sweetie. You’re lucky he didn’t hit your jaw or we’d be looking at a different injury here. You can leave when your mother comes to get you. Ice it.”

Minho followed me outside and I walked to his car.

“Give me your car keys, I’ll drive,” I said as we neared it.

“No, you don’t have a driver’s license, I’m fine I can drive,” he said. I turned around to him.

“I got my driver’s license a month ago. My parents don’t know and I don’t own a car so I didn’t tell anyone,” I explained. Minho looked a little confused but handed me his keys anyway.

“Keep the ice on your hand,” I said as I started driving. Minho did as I said but only relaxed after a few minutes when he saw I was driving just fine.

“Are you angry at me?” Minho asked. I had been rather short with him. I shook my head.

“No... I’m just really not in the mood for this,” I answered.

“And you think I am? You know I don’t really hit people. I was just so angry... Dan was just saying awful things about you... About how after we broke up, you’d been sleeping around, called you a whore, it was so disrespectful and he said so many other things I don’t even want to tell you,” Minho said. I looked at him and saw he really was feeling bad about it all. Maybe I needed to dial it down. After all my bad mood wasn’t his fault and he did stand up for me.

“I know, I’m sorry. Thanks for looking out for me.” We shared a smile of understanding and the rest of the drive was much more peaceful.

“Does it hurt a lot?” I asked, looking at his hand. He took the ice off it to look at it.

“It’s okay but has felt better,” Minho answered. I rolled my eyes at his answer.

Thanks to the nurse calling ahead our wait wasn’t too long and after the X-ray we only had to wait for a doctor to come and see us. We were brought to one of the ER rooms, Minho sat on the bed while we waited. I walked to him and took his hand in mine, examining it.

“It’s a bit swollen but I don’t think it’s broken,” I commented.

“Thank you, miss doctor,” he said, giving me a teasing look.

“Please don’t flirt with me, I have a fiancé,” I said. He snorted as he laughed with me.

“Well, excuse me,” he said before kissing me softly. I kissed him back but didn’t linger too long because I didn’t want to get caught.

“Let me look at that hand,” the doctor said when he arrived 30 minutes later. He took the ice off and examined Minho’s hand, touched here and there until Minho winced.

“That’s what I thought,” the doctor said. “I already looked at your x-rays, it’s not broken. However due to the impact your middle finger subluxated. It popped back in on its own. Let it rest, don’t do any sports. It should be better in about a week but keep strain off it for at least 3 weeks.” With that we were dismissed and we headed home. I let Minho drive now I knew his hand wasn’t broken.

“Let’s hope it heals fast,” I said. Minho nodded.

“I need to carry you over the threshold so let’s hope,” he said. I smiled, of course Minho loved little traditions like that.

“Well, if it’s not we’ll just have to do it piggy-back, that works too,” I suggested. Minho frowned at me.

“That doesn’t count? I’m carrying you whether you like it or not!” Minho told me.

“Alright then,” I said before deciding to get on his nerves, “so I’m still undecided on which finger I should wear my ring. I was kind of thinking the pinkie finger... and maybe an hour for the wedding we should meet?”

“You are just trying to annoy me! You know your wedding ring is fitted for your ring finger!” he told. I laughed at him.

“Alright, sweetie, calm down,” I told him.

 

 “Rest your hand well, okay,” I told him when we arrived at my house. He nodded. I threw a quick glance towards the house and saw my mom near the window. So I leaned in and gave Minho a kiss on his cheek instead.

“See you later, handsome,” I said before getting out of the car.

_____

“Minho drove you?” she asked.

“Yes, he had to go to the hospital and since everyone seems to know we’re getting married, they thought it was appropriate to call me out of class for him,” I said.

“What happened?” she said, sounding worried.

“He punched someone,” I paused and I saw my mother’s disapproving look, “because someone was insulting me.” My mother looked somewhere between surprised and pleased.

“So I guess you’re getting along then?” she asked. I hesitated to reply for a second.

“It’s not because we are not constantly at each other throats that it is acceptable to have us marry. It would be nice to marry someone that I not only can stand but someone I had actual feelings for,” I told her.

“Well, you dated so there must have been something? You have liked him for some time,” she asked.

“Don’t pretend as if you weren’t planning this way before then. Upon getting to know him I realised I didn’t like him,” I said before walking on and going upstairs.


	10. The one with the vows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter a little early since I'm busy tomorrow! The end is near and things are starting to wrap up. I hope you enjoy ^^

It was one week before the wedding and we were having our very last date. I was glad to be out of the house because everyone was so stressed out. It felt as though we were saying goodbye to our old life today so I was a little more emotional than usual. We rented a bungalow for the day so we could have some time in private with just the two of us. Minho was cooking so I left him to it because he seemed to know what he was doing. I didn’t want to disturb him because he seemed so focused. That’s why I just hung around the kitchen and watched him cook with a small frown because of how hard he was focusing, I found it endearing. My patience was well rewarded, the food was simply delicious. He seemed to be quite glad I was enjoying the food so much too.

“I’m never cooking again... you’re simply too good at it,” I commented and Minho smiled back at me.

“I will gladly cook for you, sweetie.”

After dinner, I told him to sit down. He looked curiously and waited for me to talk.

“Since we’re not reading our actual vows on our wedding day, I prepared them for today,” I smiled shyly. Minho looked a bit teary-eyed and waited for me to go on.

“We found each other when I least expected it. I’ve always known you were kind and I remember from a few years back when you carried me to the nurse’s office after I had hurt myself during PE, yes, I did remember,” I told him and he held my hand and squeezed it, smiling fondly at the memory. “I think that’s when I first started liking you. We’ve not been together all that long but I know our connection is real and through this everything we could find comfort in each other... You feel like home to me. If I could choose for myself I would still marry you eventually. I hope we can spend even more time together, get to know each other more and feel at home together. You get me like no other, you move me like no other and you make me feel like safe and loved. I love you so much, I hope we can grow old together.”

By the time I was done talking, Minho was crying and he hugged me tightly. I rubbed his back.

“I love you so so so much, please never leave me,” he told me. I was trying hard to keep my tears in. “I didn’t really prepare anything but I still want to tell you.” I leaned back and listened to him. He looked me into my eyes and took a deep breath.

“If there is one person who can turn heads, it’s you. You’re not only pretty but it is most of all what’s inside that blew me away,” he paused and I could see he was on the brink of crying again. “You make my days a little brighter. I know we’re still young but I know what I have and I’m never letting go. I’m going to take care of you and support you because I want you to achieve everything you want in life.”

For not having to prepared anything, he made lovely vows. Tears escaped my eyes and Minho reached out to wipe them away. I hugged him close.

“I love you,” I told him, squeezing him tighter.

“I love you too,” he murmured back. I kissed him tenderly, he held me close and kissed me back. I didn’t lean back for a long while. The next time we could kiss like this would probably be after the wedding. I was looking forward to being married but I did not look forward to the wedding. I knew Minho felt the same way. It was so rushed, there were too many people... I just hoped I could get through the day without too many issues.

A little while later we were both lounging on the couch. Minho was holding me in his arms and one of my arms was lazily resting on his waist. He was mumbling about some memory. Minho stopped when he caught me just staring at him.

“What?” he asked me. I smiled at him.

“I like your face,” I said. He frowned and laughed slightly at my comment.

“That’s an oddly delivered compliment but I’ll take it,” he said. I shrugged at him and he kissed the top of my head tenderly.

“Can we stay here forever? Not get married, not start working, just be here with each other,” I asked. He locked eyes with me and then his eyes turned bright.

“I would, but the rent here is ridiculously expensive,” he told me, trying not to smile. I laughed and he joined in.

____

“I’ll see you on our wedding day,” I told Minho when I said goodbye. It turned out I would see Minho just a little bit sooner. Minho called me two days before the wedding. I asked what was wrong.

“There is something going on with Macy but she won’t talk, I think it’s best if you talk to her,” Minho said. I took my purse and walked fast-pace to the Choi residence. Minho opened the door for me. As soon as he closed it behind me he kissed me shortly. I walked into the living room. Taemin looked worried and slightly pale.

“Where’s Macy?” I asked. Taemin pointed towards the big bathroom.

“Oh,” I said in realization.

“What, do you know what’s wrong?” Taemin asked. I shook my head.

“Not really, but I have an inkling,” I said. I walked to the bathroom without specifying what I thought. I knocked on the door of the bathroom.

“Mace, it’s me...” when she didn’t immediately reply I said, “Come on, we made a pact. Whatever you need, right?”

That’s when the door opened and an arm pulled me in. She engulfed me in a hug. 

“Macy, it’s time to talk... Is it what I think it is?” I asked, rubbing her back. She nodded.

“I’m late.”

“Did you use protection?” I asked. She shot me a look.

“Of course we did, but you know it’s not completely effective.” She said. I nodded in understanding.

“Have you taken a pregnancy test yet?” I asked, trying to appear calm. She shook her head.

“Well let’s do that first then. I’ll run out and get some, okay?” She nodded but asked me not to say anything to Taemin.

I exited the bathroom and the two boys looked at me.

“Minho, can you drive me, no questions asked?” I asked. Minho looked at me, but saw the sincerity in my eyes and complied. Taemin looked just a little paler.

“No worries, Taemin,” I said, before leaving. I knew it wouldn’t bring much comfort but it was worth a try.

I told Minho to drive to the nearest grocery store. He didn’t ask anything about Macy like I asked and instead asked how I was doing. We made small talk until we were at the store. I walked in and quickly walked through the aisles, Minho followed me in silence. I stopped in my tracks in front of the pregnancy tests. Minho scanned the products and his eyes grew wide as realisation hit.

“I assume this is not for you?” he asked calmly, looking at all the different brands. I shook my head.

“Nope... I think I would tell you first if I thought I was...” I trailed off because it felt weird to say.

“That’s good to know... you know, it’s kind of weird thinking about Taemin having sex...” Minho said, because he thought of Taemin as a younger brother.

“You know he’s as old as I am, right?” I said. Minho shook his head warily.

“I’m just going to stop thinking about it.”

I grabbed three different brands and went to the front of the store. The cashier gave us a mildly judging look.

“It’s not for us,” Minho tried but for obvious reasons the cashier did not believe him.

When I got back to the car I realised the bag they had given was useless at hiding what was inside. Before I could make a comment about it, Minho seemed to have guessed my thoughts.

“There is a bag in the glove compartment, so Taemin doesn’t have to see.”

I gave him a grateful look and stuffed the tests into the bag. I was glad Minho understood. When we arrived back at Minho’s home, I made my way to the bathroom and handed her all the sticks. She looked scared and I reassured her that it would be fine. After she peed on them it would take a few minutes for the result to show up.

“So, you and Taemin really got it on, huh?” I commented. Despite her stress, she sent me a judging look.

 “What, like you’re one to talk?” she told me. I shrugged.

“I suppose you’re right,” I told her.

“How long have you been thinking you’re pregnant?” I asked. Macy grimaced.

“A week,” she admitted.

“Mace... why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her.

“You’ve got enough going on in your life as it is,” she said. I shook my head.

“Next time, please tell me something like this, okay?” I asked her. She nodded and we hugged it out.

“So how are the preparations for the wedding?” she asked me to distract herself.

“Good, all done as far as I’m concerned. I’m stressed out of my mind though,” I admitted to her.

“Well, think about it this way, at the end of the day, you get to go home with Minho,” she told me.

“I know I could’ve done a lot worse, it’s just... it’s a lot in one day you know... I’m just happy we get our honeymoon, it’s just a little breather before I seem to get pushed into what is essentially the rest of my life.”

“One step at a time,” Macy told me. It seemed as though comforting me was efficiently distracting her. That was until I checked my watch and announced it was time.

“I just can’t look,” she told me and walked away from the counter and sat on the ground. I wanted to make a comment but I chose it was better to just turn around and look at the tests.

“They’re all the same result,” I told her. She looked up at me.

“You’re not pregnant,” I told her. Macy shot up to look at the tests.

“Oh, thank god,” she sighed. I hugged her. Once Macy had composed herself I left the bathroom again and told Taemin to go in. He still looked pale but I assured him it was okay. Minho gave me a questioning look, I shook my head.

“False alarm,” I said as soon as the door closed.

“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Minho said. I nodded in agreement.

“Let’s give them their space,” I told Minho, “I need to head home anyway, my parents don’t know where I am.”

I kissed Minho goodbye and he walked me until the end of the street. I looked at him one last time before I turned the corner, next time I’d see him we would get married.

 


	11. The one where we get married

It was the evening before the wedding and I was so stressed out I could hardly sleep. I didn’t see Minho this week apart from Thursday. I texted Minho to see he was awake. I had barely put my phone down or it buzzed. It appeared Minho couldn’t fall asleep either.

Eventually I drifted off into sleep but I was woken up too soon. My mother woke me cheerily, because she knew after today there was no turning back. My mood improved a little when Macy arrived and brought my favourite snacks. We ate the snacks before we started getting ready. First I had to go downstairs to get my make-up and hair done and then it was time to step into my dress. I wore a delicate dress that had detailed lacing on the top and had a big flowy satin skirt. Both Macy and my mother were nearly crying when they saw the complete picture.

“You look so pretty,” Macy said. She was one to talk, with her long dress and her long hair hanging loosely over her shoulders, she looked so pretty. I thanked her for the compliment. Once I was completely ready they left to do the last things for themselves.

I was glad to have a moment alone but only a few minutes later I heard a soft knock on the door  
“Come in,” I said. My father walked in and I smiled at him. I saw tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m truly sorry you have to go through this,” he told me. I hugged him in reply, I knew he had a hard time with it too. “Your mother... it’s like I don’t recognise her anymore.”

“It’s not too late to file for divorce,” I told him, half joking, half serious. He looked at me.

“You think your prenup is crazy? You should have seen mine,” he said, indicating he would lose a lot of money. Despite the seriousness of the conversation we both laugh.

“Are you still happy with Minho?” he asked me. I nodded.

“He’s lovely and he’s been a great support through this. I think we can be happy together,” I said.

“I’m glad to hear that. I wish you a lot of luck... And don’t let your mother get inside of your head,” he told me. I thanked him and gave him another hug before he went back downstairs.

____

 

Too soon it was time to leave. I was so nervous but when I finally locked eyes with Minho, most of my nerves were forgotten. He looked ridiculously handsome in his suit, a well-tailored three piece.  Knowing I got to take that home made me incredibly happy. What made me even more happy was when I saw his face. He stared lovingly at me, he had tears in his eyes and I too had a hard time not to start crying. For a second it didn’t matter that they weren’t supposed to know exactly how in love we were. We were only doing this once and despite everything, I was going to enjoy it.

“You look stunning,” Minho whispered to me quickly. I gave him a soft smile back.

We listened to the officiator and told our fake vows, awfully cliché and impersonal. When we were pronounced husband and wife I was hit with a strange sense of reality. It seemed every part of my body was tingling, butterflies were flaring up and my heart was beating so fast it felt as though it was trying to escape from my chest. My eyes were looking into Minho’s and what our eyes were telling each other was something that simply could not be put into words. It was only between us and the rest of the room would be none the wiser. When we were told to kiss, we kept it very tame, we would get our proper kiss later.

The reception and dinner flew by in what seemed minutes, I shook hands with people I had never seen and ate food too fancy to be enjoyable. Then it was time for our first dance, which we didn’t even get to practice and I barely remembered picking out a song. So we simply swayed to the music despite the fact that I had dancing experience. We held each other close and made some comments about some guests, but I was glad when it was over and the other guests joined on the dance floor. From the corner of my eye I could see Macy and Taemin dance on the dance floor. Jonghyun tapped Minho’s shoulder and asked if he could dance with me. Two songs later I had danced with Jinki as well as Kibum, who bugged me until we did part of our routine from last year, surprising some of our guests. I didn’t dance with Taemin because he was too busy looking at Macy to notice any other guests. I thought it was cute and I was even a bit jealous they could experience love on their own time.

A few songs in I sat down to rest my feet. Kibum joined me swiftly, sipping on a cocktail.

“You two are so in love it is almost nauseating. Except you are cute. I can’t believe your mother hasn’t caught on,” Kibum said.

“My mother doesn’t know me as well as she think she does...,” I told Kibum, who gave an understanding smile. “How’s the love life going for you?”

The moment I said it I saw Kibum’s eyes going to the dancefloor to the guy dancing beside Minho.

“Jonghyun?” I asked. Kibum smiled and winked at Jonghyun, who promptly winked back with a smug smile.

“We might have made out in the bathroom earlier...” Kibum admitted with a happy grin.

“This is my wedding and you’re getting more action that I am!” I said, faking being scandalised.

“He and I are at the same hotel too,” Kibum hinted.

“Un-be-lievable. No wonder Jonghyun asked me so much about you and your dancing,” I said.

After a long while most of the guests started going home and for us it was time to go to our hotel and in the morning, we would leave on our honeymoon.

We picked up our keys at the reception and then made our way up to our honeymoon suite.

“Is your hand okay?” I asked as we neared the door, because I knew he insisted on carrying me over the threshold. He didn’t reply, just shot me a look. He opened the door and turned to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him pick me up with ease. He carried me over the threshold and softly put me down. I kicked off my shoes but before I could do anything else, Minho turned me around and kissed me eagerly. I smiled into the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Husband,” I said when we broke apart for a second. Minho sighed.

“Don’t...,” he said, lust filling his eyes. I giggled, not expecting that to be a _thing._

If Minho thought we could get right down to business, he was quite wrong. My dress was an absolute nightmare to get off.  

“This was so worth holding out for,” he commented. The rest of our clothes slipped of quickly. We paid no attention to the big and luxurious room and went straight to the big bed.

 

 

“Have you been working out more?” I asked, eyeing his abs as we finally got ready to sleep.

“So you have noticed that?” he asked. I raised an eyebrow.

“It is hard to miss. I definitely couldn’t complain before but there is a definite improvement,” I commented, reaching out to touch them. His skin was warm under my touch and I could feel his heart softly beat under my hand.

“I did it for you. You better enjoy it while it lasts. Now I’m married I’ll stop doing the effort,” he said, his eyes twinkling. We both laughed at his comment.

“You’re unbelievable,” I said.

“That makes you Mrs Unbelievable,” he said. I giggled and shot him a look.

“Your jokes are getting increasingly worse, you’re getting tired, let’s sleep,” I said. He quite agreed and we both snuggled under the covers.

I rolled closer to Minho again so that I was tucked against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me protectively.

“Goodnight, love,” he murmured in my ear.

“Goodnight, sweetie,” I replied, being happier and more relaxed than I had been in a long while.

After the long day, I drifted off quickly into sleep. It was the first time we spent the night together yet it felt so familiar, as though I belonged in his arms.

The next morning we slept in and enjoyed breakfast in our room. After that we made use of our ridiculously big bath. His legs were wrapped around me as my back rested against his chest. I was holding his hands in mine.

“The worst is behind us,” Minho said.

“Thank god it is, this is about a thousand times better,” I said, squeezing his hands.

“I wish every day could be like this, just you and I and no one else,” he said, kissing my shoulder. I turned to look at him.

“We have to live for those days, they will be there occasionally,” I said.

“I could live just for this memory alone,” Minho said. I locked eyes with him.

“That’s awfully cheesy, Minho,” I told him. He smiled sweetly at me.

“It’s because I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said. Minho’s face turned serious.

“Well good, otherwise we would be in quite a pickle right about now,” he said, at which point I splashed water in his face. He protested loudly and threw some foam my way. We ended up kissing, covered in foam.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter to go! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	12. The one with the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning: sexual harassment

I heard Minho sigh and look up from his book for the tenth time in a few minutes.

“What?” I asked. Minho shook his head in dismissal. I told him to tell me anyway.

“That guy over there keeps checking you out,” he said. I looked in the direction he had nodded across the swimming pool. I spotted a guy about ten years older, who looked in our direction but I couldn’t exactly tell where he was looking. I dismissed it and told him to stop being jealous over nothing.

Only two days later I was getting the feeling he might have been right. That day I caught the same guy looking at me three times and the more I caught it the more aware I got. First at the restaurant, then at the swimming pool later and once again shortly after lunch. The fourth time that day I sighed and told Minho he had been right.

“Kiss me,” Minho said. We were waiting for the elevator to arrive.

“What?” I said turning around to him. He pulled me to him and kissed me, making sure he held me close. It was so intense my knees almost gave out. Minho only released me when we heard the ‘ping’ of the elevator arriving.

“That’ll teach him,” he said as we both walked into the elevator. Then he noticed my expression and the fact my cheeks were red.

“Oh, you liked that, huh?” he said smiling smugly.

“Good thing we are on the way to our room,” I replied with an even smugger smile.

“Okay, but this time we need to at least try to make it back downstairs for dinner,” he said. The elevator stopped and opened. I took his hand and dragged him to our door. “Well, this time you didn’t order chocolate sauce, I think that helps.”

___

It was close to lunchtime on the sixth day and Minho was at the front desk of the hotel for a ‘surprise’. I was looking at the menu for dinner which was displayed on the opposite wall of the lobby. He was almost done when the guy I had caught watching me, somehow managed to slip between me and the wall. Surprised I took a step backwards.

“Hi, I’m Cedric,” he introduced himself. He smiled at me and I could see he thought very highly of himself.

“Hello...” I said hesitantly. I looked back but Minho was still at the desk.

“I’ve been seeing you around quite a lot, are you staying long?” Cedric asked, he was ogling me. I wanted to move back further but he seemed to lean forward as I leaned back so I went against the instinct.

“Just two more days,” I said shortly. It felt as though he was undressing me with his eyes. I had my arms crossed trying to close myself off. Either he was very bad at reading body language or he simply didn’t care. I felt repulsed and simply wanted to escape but I didn’t want to make a scene either.

“Any moments your boy there isn’t here? I can show you a good time,” I felt like I was going to vomit and took a step back.

“No,” I said firmly. In an attempt to keep me there he reached out and grabbed onto my arm. My body felt like ice.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” he said, smiling smoothly. My heart was racing. I felt dizzy and tried to pull back when I felt a soft warm hand on the small of my back. I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding. Cedric let go off my arm and took a step back. Minho stepped in front of me. He was towering over the guy and glared down at him, dominant and fuming.

“I would really appreciate it if you left my wife alone,” Minho said in a calm, low voice. It was almost as though the guy was shrinking before my eyes. “Don’t touch her ever again, in fact if I catch you as much as looking at her, I’ll make sure you won’t be looking at anyone for a long time.”

The guy took a step sideways as it was his only way out and then hurried outside. Minho glared at him until he was out of sight. Minho’s posture deflated and he turned around at me with worry in his eyes. He rubbed my arms and the icy feeling left my body.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I took in a deep breath and nodded. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? If you want we can go back upstairs. I ordered a picnic but we can do that in our room too,” he said. That’s when I looked behind me and spotted the picnic basket he set down on the table in his hurry to get to me.

“I’m sure. Thanks,” I said with a soft smile. He smiled back in understanding.

“I’m not a violent person but I would gladly relief _him_ of his eyes with a spoon,” he said, his brows furrowing as he thought about it.

“Please... don’t do that, you wouldn’t actually survive in jail,” I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“I’m offended,” Minho faked being hurt. He took my hand and picked the picnic basket up with the other. We walked to the woods and then started hiking up the hill. There were a few comfortable silences in which we simply walked and enjoyed the surroundings. After about 1,5 hour of hiking we arrived at the right spot. There was a spot near the ridge of the hill. A big flattened rock with a view that seemed to spread over miles. I gasped in awe.

“Wow, this is amazing!” I said. I turned back to Minho with a smile but he was watching me instead of the scenery. I started snapping picture while Minho was taking out our food and setting it on the blanket. Suddenly I felt Minho’s arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me against him.

“This is our last proper day, tomorrow we need to start packing so I wanted to do something special before we have to go back to real life.”  

“This is great, sweetie,” I said, hugging him close.

We sat down and Minho handed me a plate and a glass. He seemed a bit silent so I asked if everything was okay. He smiled sweetly at me.

“No, I was just thinking... If you want to still study, finish school, you should be able to do that. Your parents want you to do this and that but you will not be living there. Please don’t ever feel restricted, not for me anyway. Whatever you do, I’ll support you, okay?” Minho told me.

“That’s very sweet. It goes both ways too, okay? If you ever want to do something different, go for it. Let’s promise to be open about these sort of things,” I said. We shared a look of mutual understanding before digging into our food.

“Are we ever going to tell them we’re in love?” Minho asked, passing me the butter. I shrugged.

“I’m not in a hurry, maybe someday.” Minho smiled back at me and leaned in to kiss me.

“I love you, hon,” he said.

“I love you too, babe.”

 

 ______

 

Minho walked in front of me opening the door to Rose’s café and we quickly walked over to our favourite booth.

 

Emily slipped in the furthest seat on her father’s side. Being the oldest she usually was the calmest. Oliver followed his sister suit and propped down beside her. I picked up the twins, Lily and Lysander and put them on the seat since they were too young to get up on their own. I laid a hand over my belly as I felt the baby kick.

 

Minho stood up to go order the milkshakes. Oliver insisted on walking along with his dad and carrying his own milkshake. Minho happily let the 5-year old walk to the counter with him.

 

Minho soon returned with the milkshakes. Oliver almost tripped on his way back but made it back without spilling his milkshake. Minho sat down in front of me and shared a smile. This place brought back wonderful memories and it was lovely to come back for more memories, with our own ‘little’ family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of it! I hope you enjoyed the story and that you liked the ending! Let me know what you think of it and thank you for reading ❤︎


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